Fearless Erotica

Huddle Author Stats and Facts: Tamsin Flowers

Over the course of the next few days, visit our blog to meet some of the authors of the astoundingly hot and totally fruity stories of Huddle: Sex With Sporty Queers. First up is Tamsin Flowers, since she was kind enough to say, “Yes! Sample my story!” (you can right here), and because her author photo is smokin’, and I’m all about pictures of women who are smokin’.

Your name: Tamsin Flowers

Your position: Sexual or otherwise?

Your favorite sport, assuming there is one: Although I don’t play it anymore, and when I did, I played it badly, it would have to be lacrosse. For the uninitiated, this involves rushing round the grass pitch as fast as you can with a lacrosse stick (a stick with a leather and cat gut net at the end) held at head height, while “cradling” a hard, hard, dangerous, small ball in the net and, at opportune moments, catapulting said ball towards one of your teammates or the opposing goalie. Yes, it is dangerous. I remember my terror, when I began playing, at being told stories about the ghosts haunting the abandoned lower lacrosse pitch–the ghosts of girls who’d all been hit in the temple with a lacrosse ball and DIED! I think cradling a lacrosse ball was one of the hardest things I ever mastered, and so nothing was more satisfying than running down the pitch, cradling the ball, evading the opposition, who are bashing at you with their sticks, and firing that ball into goal. I think I did that once…maybe.

Your favorite place to write: I actually don’t care where I write, as long as the conditions are right: solitude, silence, and all my technology working properly. When solitude and silence are in short supply, I can become very ratty and unpleasant. I would love to have a little writer’s shed (possibly, a more luxurious office, rather than a shed) where I could shut myself away for absolutely hours at a time. So, everyone, please buy my books, so the shed can move from dream to reality!

Your favorite character in your “Huddle” story (your “writer’s pet”) and why: Although I adore Jed, the main character in my story, “Lucky Mascot,” I have even more of a soft spot for the star pitcher, Dick Gunnison. There’s something of a puppy dog about him and, in my mind, he has the best smile ever.

Your definition of “queer”: The way people use the word “queer” has really changed over the course of my life. When I was young, it was something of a derogatory term that my parents (although not particularly homophobic) would use in hushed tones, as in, “I think he might be a bit queer,” and, to them, it was something a little alien that they knew very little about. (“A bit”? What did they mean?) My own understanding of the term came from watching John Hurt’s extraordinary performance as Quentin Crisp in “An Englishman Abroad.” I sat and watched this with my parents when I was maybe 12 or 13, squirming with embarrassment at the sexually open subject matter, but was unable to tear myself away. It was such a tour de force. As I grew older, the term “queer” was espoused for the word “gay,” and now, of course, it’s been reclaimed by the LGBT community. According to generation and geography, it’s a word that has different connotations for different people, and to be honest, I’m a little wary of sticking labels on individuals. Certainly, when I write, I never actually declare a character to be straight or gay or anything else. They just are what they are and do what they do, depending on the story.

Your first moment realizing that you write sex really well: Sorry? Just let me read that sentence again! Seriously, that moment hasn’t arrived, and I don’t think it will. I’m a writer, so, naturally, I think my work could be much better if I only managed to find the better, “righter” words. The first time I realized I could write sex that wasn’t squirm-inducingly awful? Probably the day I sold my first story a couple of years ago, but I still wondered if the publishers had sent the acceptance by mistake and would eventually realise I was a bit of a fraud. And I think that to this day, whenever a story’s accepted. (Please, Go Deeper, suspend your disbelief in me for just a little longer….)

Your contact stuff: My website is Tamsin’s Superotica, I’m @TamsinFlowers on Twitter, and I can be reached at tamsin.flowers@gmail.com.

You can get Tamsin’s “Lucky Mascot” and the rest of Huddle’s amazing stories for free until Monday, September 16. If you’re late to the game, bro, they’ll be no playing time for you, so get it now!